The first book-length interpretation of the new conservative leaders of America's largest Protestant denomination.

Uneasy in Babylon is based on extensive interviews with the most important Southern Baptist conservatives who have assumed control of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Known to many Americans from their appearances on national TV talk shows, such as Larry King Live and Fox News, they advocate a return to traditional values throughout the country. Hankins shows how differing cultural perceptions help explain the great chasm that developed between fundamentalists in the SBC and the moderates who preceded them as leaders of the denomination.

Barry Hankins is Associate Professor of History and Church-State Studies at Baylor University.

"This richly detailed and closely narrated work is a fascinating study of key figures in the bitter struggle from 1979 to the 1990s for control of the nation's largest Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention. . . . [It is] a unique work and essential reading for those interested in contemporary 'culture wars.'"--Paul Harvey, Religious Studies Review

"Those who wish to understand the rift in the SBC in recent decades will find Hankin's book a fair and first-rate account."--Douglas Carl Abrams, Georgia Historical Quarterly